route 1 Go to NYC because of J-school. I’ll have a thing to do and it’s a legit reason. The current dilemma beside the fact of whether being accepted or not is the money. It’s just so much money. And I don’t have that kind of money to go to J-school. I mean, I could accept it if necessary but I’m also starting to think that it’s not worth it.

route 2 find some sort of a job and secure a visa. Being canadian means that I can stay in the US for as long as I want but to work you still need a visa. but the hard part isn’t getting the visa, it’s getting the job. Having no actual experience or viable skills, whatchugonna do?

route 3 screw everything and just go and figure it out there.

Right now I am leaning towards route 3. Even if I get into J-school I am thinking that it’s just too expensive.

Bonus route Be able to secure enough scholarship to go to J-school without too much of a debt but that so far seems kind of hopeless. I think the amount of money that i’m willing to spend at J-school (excluding food and rent) is $10000. I don’t want to spend anything more than that. And I know that fees alone rack up to about $50k…so i mean i get that it’s ivy league and the alumni network is vast and all that..

but i really can’t afford it

bonus is the most ideal right now

i’m stressed and depressed about this whole thing but the results for the school won’t appear until March probably. So, till then, I should just chill right?

I CANT CHILL THOUGH.

/damn

going to play tetris for 3 hours consecutively now then go watch the super bowl at my friend’s house (she has HD) and sip on bubbles (soda)

i went there last year (photos)

there are a bunch of really cool stores but you cant take photos in them! well you could, you just gota really ninja it. like i did, hence it came out blurry

THE CHINESE PEOPLE LOVE CHURROS

braving the subway to go to wangfujing

if you want to eat street cart food but are afraid of the safety levels, these more organized street food might, MIGHT put your heart at rest. there is an over abundance of fried bugs for tourists to eat. but they dont buy any and just take pictures. but dont worry, there’s also a hell load of alcohol near by to help wash it down.

there are also an abundance of world famous brands, in fact they were having some sort of a brand festival. but also goddamn it there is a GAP. but i think this gap is better than the US ones because they ship more of the Japanese styles than the American styles, though there were similar items as well.

Q: do you know what that is in the black box?
A: because of the over abundance (and unnecessary) development of consumer vehicles, there is a dire need of parking spaces. in the older apartment buildings, there weren’t any parking built in because nobody had cars back then. so they made these metal claw things that are bolted into the ground and the owner of that spot has a key to the bolt and renders it flat so that they could park when they get home. yep…

so that’s my public plea for a reduction of home-owned vehicles in china, it’s rending beijing undriveable, and untaxi-able and i have to sit in traffic …. and watch the meter bounce up and up ;__;

yup…
here’s also a bad video i took while in a car/bus

anyways she has a new mini album out..

there’s a sort of raw energy that i like about her and she just has the best voice ever.

just going to leave this here

and this

It went…alright.

I will know if i I get into the school of Journalism at Columbia University in New York City sometime in March or later?

Things that I have to do now but I have been putting off

1. Finish my financial aid thingy for grad school, due February 1st.

I don’t really do these because I never think I can get any money ever. Due to lack of excellence in every possible area, they really have to invent some sort of special category to force money on to me. And because they don’t do that, it’s like, oh alright, no money for you.

And why am I applying for it this time? Because the school costs so much…!! So much that I was thinking that even if I get in I should put it off for one year and try somehow to make that much cash from now until then. But that’s a horrible idea.

2. I am going to start my book again. which book you ask? the one that never ever got written.

3. I am going to resume Chinese calligraphy.
This will help me in reading and writing chinese and hence making me a less useless chinese person.

It helps to bring inner peace or something because it’s such a …concentrated task.

Also it just looks goddamn cool.

So report finished. Right now I will clean my room….and…yeah!

(photo less post is photo less, i’m sorry)

BONUS: oh yeah I think I am 2 books away from finishing my 52 out of 52 and currently in the middle of the marriage plot….

almost done!

edit: also seriously looking for a job now! !

unable to find a real trailer for this BBC produced biopic of Stephen Hawking starring Benedict Cumberbatch (oh isn’t he wonderful?) you’ll have to settle for some photos instead.

it is so moving and in my time of crisis (my tiny tiny crisis) it really really REALLY goes to show that anything is possible and with hard work and perseverance you can do anything.

there is a tenacity and optimism found in scientists that’s often not found in writers or artists. Because science, can pretty much explain almost all of the things that goes on in the world while art can only begin to rationalize it all. And while science will strive to save the mind, writing will save the soul. so basically you really can’t do without both.

so, next time you’re having a “mental breakdown” about some “problem” you can definitely overcome it as in i am sure your problem is nothing compared to what Stephen Hawking had to go through…

also benedict cumberbatch has the most beautiful smile ever.

before i never knew what to say when people asked me if i had a favorite actor.. well now i do!

highly recommended

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

(you can easily find a copy of it if you look, the usual places, the easy places)

i’m taking my exam for journalism school on thursday.
it sounds a lot more hefty than what it actually is.

i guess i watched this to psyche myself up but now i don’t really know what i’m doing and i don’t know how i feel about the whole thing.

but yeah, the new york times does seem like it’s a lot more intense than work at Vogue, (The September Issue) …..

best of luck to me.
i don’t know what else to think about this business now….

edit:

one of the reasons i think the documentary intimidated me because it focused on investigative journalism than the many other types of journalism that exists. I am a citizen of the world and hence, i have to be interested in the going-ons of the world. but what i am interested in differs from everyone else.

and because i’m different, i always think that the type of interest that i take is the bad kind of different, the wrong kind.

and i really sort of would like my life to be figured out soon.
and going to journalism school was one of the things that would lead me to figuring it out but all of that just scares me so much.

i hope that i’m smart enough and i hope that i’ll have enough drive to work hard enough.

laziness has made itself so prevalent in my life for the past while and i haven’t been doing, or even saying anything worth its molecules in saliva.

so, i gota, hustle, or something, or whatever, or something

somehow the new year didn’t feel real until we’ve passed the lunar calendar as well…

best wishes and prosperity for everyone in the up coming year of the dragon

hope everyone that celebrated it had an exciting and fun night!

my aunt took us here but we got lost and these are the pics that i took while getting lost!

this guy is someone that stands outside the shops and attracts customers by relaying off rhymes with two half pieces of bamboo that creates a rhythm. the original beatboxer kkkz?

i rarely put stuff under the cut but this post is gonna be huggeeee so:
if you ever visit beijing this place is very tourist friendly, it’s very clean and it’s not super crowded so it’s not bad. it’s expensive though because the brands are very old and hence charge an arm and a leg for stuff but comparatively to european shops it’s really nothing. there is an amazing hat shop that charges about 500 RMB for a really good hat, less than $80 and the price varies too of course

these metal fellows are telling a story of how they got their name because the emperor really wanted sweets one night and all the shops are closed except for theirs and hence the emperor wrote them a script (very…important and displays status and quality of one’s shop – i assume)

this is the fancy peking duck place though this isn’t the really fancy one but it has the same name. this one is mostly lunch sets that run you anywhere from 200 to 500 rmb for a lunch set (30$ to 80$). but if you want the super fancy stuff it’s about 3300 RMB ($530 USD) for 4-5 people, though being full is not guaranteed. it’s impossible to get a reservation there even if you’re willing to spend. i wanted to take my grandpa there but my mom said reservations couldn’t be made within the month. you can get peking duck pretty much in any restaurant so … you dont HAVE to go to the super nice place.

bought a pair of shoes here! love it!

THERE’s a uniqlo here! so never fear! if you wanna buy stuff but don’t know what to buy. therefore, you can tell, that this place is newly built. but it’s a nice area to shop and see sights, and it’s very close to all the main stuff like the forbidden palace and the tiananmen square and stuff.

bought some tea and stinky tofu!

tea demonstration. you’re supposed to buy tea afterwards. you aren’t forced to of course but it’s suggested that you do. it’s a nice place to rest if you can’t find one. and you get to buy some tea, so really not a lost

i wanted to take pics with the figurines too! but that lady refused to leave, fine… be in one of my pictures then..